A TRIBUTE TO THE BLOKE

• This entry may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, particularly if you don’t know Doug or I very well, or if you have only read the more recent of my blogs and poems. ‘Poor old Dougie’ as one of our mates describes him, is my hero. I may not give this impression in some of my entries, but on the other hand, I do often refer to him as TBBITW – for those of you who don’t know, this stands for THE BEST BLOKE IN THE WORLD!
  On the 21st it will be 8 years exactly since we saw each other again for the first time in 33 years. These have without any doubt whatsoever been the best years of my life.
  When I first met Doug I was sweet 16 and he was a young god, tall, golden hair, peaches and cream complexion, hazel eyes, super sexy and the most intelligent and spiritual man I had ever met. I do say man, as he was a wicked 3 years older than me and I considered him to be a ‘man of the world’. Little did I realise then that we were both little more than children.
  Doug is the only man, inclusive of past husbands and partners that I have loved with my entire being, the only man I have loved with my soul. When I was young, he seemed to me to be a young philosopher and I was madly in love with his mind. He taught me to be true to myself and not to be overly influenced by the opinions of others – he encouraged me to think outside of the normal parameters. I was devastated when we parted company – he to follow a dream and me to have the family I felt I was destined to have.
  There are no regrets, had we stayed together I would not be the mother of two amazing sons who I love more than I could ever express. Had we stayed together he would not have fathered his two wonderful children and he would not have had the benefit of the love, support and companionship of his wonderful wife. Had we stayed together I would not have had the opportunity to meet the challenges I had to overcome in order to be the person I am today. Despite my feelings at the time, parting company was the right thing for us to do.
  The timing of our reconnection was perfect for us. We were both alone and looking for a new companion. God was certainly smiling on me the day we reconnected. I will never forget how, on the phone, Doug’s voice took me back in an instant to my teens. I had no idea how incredibly familiar his voice would sound.
  33 years is a long time but it never occurred to me that I would be disappointed when I met Doug again. I certainly wasn’t! Let me tell you about my wonderful bloke.
  · He is patient and non-judgmental (I must push the boundaries sometimes)
  · He never raises his voice (despite my tendency to raise mine several decibels)
  · He has a wonderful if somewhat off-beat sense of humour
  · He is social and amiable
  · He is not afraid of switching role models from time to time
  · He is a very good dishwasher! (even if he does drench the place)
  · He is still capable of surprising me
  · He is capable and blokey in all the ways that matter to a woman of my generation
  · He is masculine and comfortable in his own skin
  · He is capable of deep spirituality
  · He is a deep thinker
  · He has a wonderfully analytical mind
  · He is the only man with whom I have ever felt I could really be myself
  · He does not expect me to be perfect and accepts me with all my faults
  · He accepts my family as part of me
  · He takes care of me without suffocating me
  · He enjoys being taken care of
  · He likes my cooking
  · He rubs my back and my feet when I ask him
  · He does not keep an emotional ledger
  · He does not harbour ill feelings or remind me of my faults (can’t say the same about me)
  · He likes my poetry and encourages me to ‘do my thing’
  · He is honest with me when I need to hear an unpleasant truth (a good thing!)
  · He will sit and just talk about anything
  · He has no qualms about making himself ridiculous
  · He will leave his comfort zone
  · He is still capable of being extraordinary
  · He indulges my competitive side
  · He has the best lips in the world (not to mention a great bum!)
  · He listens to me and takes some of my recommendations
  · He respects me

I’m sure you get the picture, this is one amazing bloke. The very best thing about him though is that he is with me. I am not saying he is perfect, thank goodness! There are plenty of peccadilloes to keep him interesting and to keep me on my toes, he is however, absolutely perfect for me.
HAPPY ANIVERSARY DARLING!